SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.–While its thrilling brothers the Z06 and ZR1 have hogged most of the Corvette glory over the past few years, one could argue that the plain, old base-model Corvette has the greatest range of talents. It's blisteringly quick (0 to 60 mph in about 4.5 seconds), mild-mannered around town (quiet and reliably untemperamental in traffic), rides pretty well (stiff, not painful), and starts at a modest (for a 436-hp sports car) $48,565. But the most amazing talent of them all is its astonishing fuel economy.

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According to the EPA, the base Corvette is good for 16 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. But with a feathery touch on the throttle and conservative speeds, we figured we could stretch the fuel economy on a Corvette beyond 30 mpg. Easy.

So we borrowed a new base model Corvette coupe equipped with the standard six-speed manual transmission from Chevrolet, picked a road unlikely to be crammed with traffic, and set out to eke every last mpg out of this world-class sports car.

Yeah, it's sort of like judging a thoroughbred racehorse on its plow-pulling prowess. But tomorrow's sports cars will need to be as efficient as they are quick. Turns out our Chevy might be ahead of the curve. –John Pearley Huffman

The Test

We chose a straightforward trip from a Shell station in Santa Barbara, Calif., north along U.S. Route 101 to the city of Santa Maria about 70 miles away, and back again to the same gas station. We ran the Vette on the freeway at 55 mph (10 mph below the posted speed limit) using cruise control with the Corvette's windows up, the air conditioning off and vents open. The late-May weather was a cloudless 72 degrees with no appreciable wind.

With the 18-gallon fuel tank filled with 91 octane premium, we entered the flow of traffic on the 101 using as light a touch on the throttle as we dared, and shifting at a mere 2200 rpm. When the car hit 55, we shifted into sixth and engaged the cruise control.

No frustration matches spending a couple of hours on a wide-open freeway in a new Corvette, traveling at a crawl, while being passed by semis, ancient Buicks and several aggressively driven vehicles that should have met their fate in the boneyard a decade ago.

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The Results

At 55 mph, the Corvette's tachometer registered a perfectly poised 1300 rpm. That's barely off-idle, but the engine never bogged down or hiccupped. Even when climbing the rather long grade near Nojoqui Falls, the 6.2-liter LS3 V8 produced plenty of torque to maintain the 3217-pound fiberglass sports car's modest velocity. The trip was completely undramatic, uneventful, and totally boring.

According to the Corvette's onboard trip computer, we averaged 30.5 mpg with an average speed of 52.8 mph over the 142.8 miles. But it only took 4.358 gallons to refill the Vette's tank (using the same pump we filled up on), and works to just a bare fraction shy of 32.8 mpg. That's 32.8 mpg from a sports car that will top out at over 180 mph. That is a parsimonious performance that likely can't be duplicated by any other car with anywhere near the performance.

There's no big secret as to how the Corvette can pull this trick off. The great trick here is sixth gear in the transmission, which is an aggressive 0.50:1 overdrive that, when combined with the 3.42:1 final drive ratio, allows the engine to turn slowly at modest cruising speeds. More subtly, the great well of low-end torque produced by the large-displacement V8 engine means that the engine doesn't have to spin to high revs to ensure there are enough lb-ft on tap. For instance, it's unlikely the high-revving Ferrari F430 (EPA rated at 11 mpg in the city and 16 on the highway) could make the trip without at least one downshift. Throw in the Corvette's relatively low-rolling-resistance Goodyear Eagle F1 run-flat tires and some smart aerodynamic tweaks, and the good economy makes sense.

The Lessons

Anyone who buys a Corvette has already decided to trade off ultimate fuel economy in favor of high performance and visual aggression. But this quick, back-of-the-envelope test bears real-world lessons. First, driving conservatively will pay off in better mileage no matter what car you're piloting. Zipping through holes in traffic and ripping along at high velocities have their obvious attractions, but they will literally cost you money at the pump. Driven hard and recklessly, even a Prius will suck down dead dinosaurs at a furious rate. Driven carefully and with precision, you will find that a Hummer H2 can return something approaching reasonable mileage.

Furthermore, the big advantage the Corvette had during this exercise was a clear and open road. Starting and stopping kills fuel economy, and road design and traffic management may well be the public policy areas where some tweaks would pay off in reduced fuel cost. Designating more streets as one-way thoroughfares, having fewer traffic lights and enforcing rules that emphasize efficient traffic flow should be considered by every governing body with road responsibility.

Finally, the Corvette really is what General Motors does best. No matter what the financial condition of the company, this is an amazing machine that delivers spectacular performance without throwing aside all considerations of economy. Rerunning this test at 65 mph, we're sure we'd get something close to 30 mpg from the Corvette.